Pictures designed and drawn by Fukushima's children, combined with their words and portraits by English artist Geoff Read - following their instructions. Meet the children behind the the argument and the statistics. They continue to live with the ongoing consequences of the Fukushima Daichi nuclear accident, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11th 2011.

2011-12-11

Protecting his family: Fukushima evacuee child 家族を守って：福島から避難した子ども

"I like throwing balls. I’m doing “shourinji” (a form of karate) too, but I’m not very good at it yet. I wish there was a park nearby where I could play..."
Miroku, 8.

母親からの言葉：「ミロクは女の子にとっても優しいんです。いつも妹のコハルやお隣の女の子達と仲良く遊んでいるから、たまに学校でからかわれるほど。お父さんが福島にいて不在にしているので、父親の代わりに家族を守ろうとしているんでしょうね。父親が訪ねてくると、いつも強がってみせるんですよ」 His mother wrote:
"Miroku is really gentle and nice with girls. He plays so well with his sister and the two girls next door. It’s to the point where he sometimes gets teased at school for being nice to girls! His father is away in Fukushima now, so I think he’s trying to protect his family in his Dad’s place. When his father comes to visit, he always puts up a brave front."

His situation
He
was living in Iwaki, 33km south of Fukushima Daichi at the time of the
earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. His family have since
self-evacuated to Tokyo. Miroku lives in the same apartment building as
his friends, Momo and Waka. They didn’t know each other at all in Iwaki, but are mutually happy to have found such a good friendship now. Until the quake, Miroku's mother had lived in Iwaki City all her life, apart from University in Tokyo. After the disaster, she and her two children moved from place to place: from Iwaki to Kanazawa, Odawara, Yokohama, and then finally to Tokyo, where she hopes they can settle for a while. The other cities were fine, but living arrangements were always temporary, so it was very hard. It was also hard that they could only take a small amount of luggage with them each time. The children’s father is staying alone in their old house in Iwaki, which stands on its own, trying to establish a business and keep their income steady. He was in the fishing industry before the disaster, but has left that profession for good now. He has only been able to visit his wife and children six times since the earthquake, and each time the kids acted tough and strong around him (especially Miroku, as the eldest son), refusing to let themselves cry. Every time he returned to Iwaki, though, Miroku's mother admits that she and the children felt depressed. “We smelled his pillow to remember papa’s smell,” she said. She thinks that her son Miroku is taking on his father's role by protecting his sister and her friends.